Remote keyless entry (RKE) systems for vehicles have been available for many years. A fob is equipped with pushbuttons that, when depressed, cause a RKE transmitter in the fob to transmit a short range signal to the RKE system in the vehicle which validates the signal and decodes the particular vehicle function to be executed while sending a signal to the particular vehicle system to effect the desired function control.
Typically, a fob allows the user to lock and unlock the vehicle doors, open the vehicle trunk, and sound a vehicle alarm or horn in an emergency. However, recent trends in remote vehicle access and control continue to expand beyond the basic short-range, unidirectional remote keyless entry systems toward longer range, bidirectional communication systems or smart fobs, that have many features, including vehicle access, vehicle immobilizer, keyless engine start, panic button, remote start, vehicle locating, and vehicle status information polling. Typically, these smart fobs rely upon direct radio frequency communication between the smart fob and the vehicle at 315, 433, or 868 MHz using dedicated communication channels.
It would be desirable to provide an enhanced vehicle remote access and control system which provides an interface to owner-consumer devices, such as cellular phones, PDAs, personal computers, tablet computers, etc., while maintaining the security features of the RKE system.